Banastre Tarleton was born on August 21, 1754, the third child of John Tarleton, a former lord mayor of Liverpool, as well as a moneylender, merchant, and slave trader. Before entering politics, he served as a British military officer and led the British Legion during the southern campaign of the American War of Independence. After studying at Oxford, he became one of the most feared officers in the British army, immortalized in portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, and later depicted in the film “The Patriot” (2000) as the inspiration for Colonel William Tavington. He was known for his brutal tactics, earning the nickname “Bloody Ban.” A British dragoon officer, he arrived in America in 1776. While he participated in battles around New York and Philadelphia, he gained notoriety leading the British Legion in the Southern theater from 1780 to 1781. A skilled cavalry officer, Tarleton played a role in many battles, including Monck’s Corner and Lenud’s Ferry. His and his Loyalist troops’ harsh treatment of Patriot prisoners in the Southern Campaign gave rise to the phrase “Tarleton’s Quarter,” which came to symbolize British brutality in the war’s final years.
After Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered on May 12, 1780, the 3rd Virginia Regiment under Colonel Abraham Buford was practically the last organized Patriot force left in the state. Colonel Tarleton was tasked with wiping out any remaining colonial resistance. At Waxhaws, near the North Carolina border, his cavalry charged and crushed Buford’s 350 men. Even after the Patriots surrendered, Tarleton’s troops fired on them, which was the very essence of the punishment described as “Tarleton’s Quarter.” To the Patriots, it meant a ruthless death at the hands of a cowardly enemy. The Continentals lost 113 men and had 203 captured, while the British lost 19 men and 31 horses killed or wounded. Despite the defeat, the event became a propaganda win for the Patriots, as frightened Carolina civilians, wary of Tarleton and Loyalist neighbors, were now ready to support their cause.
After the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, Tarleton went back to Britain, where he served in Parliament as Liverpool’s representative and supported keeping the slave trade. Celebrated as a hero upon his return to Liverpool in 1782 for his famous 
exploits in the American War of Independence, church bells rang in his honor and admirers welcomed him warmly. He was made Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, in 1815. In his personal life, Tarleton spent 15 years with actress and writer Mary Robinson, famously known as Perdita for her acclaimed role. She had previously been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, later King George IV. The couple had no children, though Robinson suffered a miscarriage in 1783. On December 17, 1798, Tarleton married Susan Priscilla Bertie, daughter of Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster. They also had no children, and Tarleton passed away in 1833.
